Lexicon
The Lexicon is a section that notes common terms as well as some more of the more uncommon jargon used through out the Terran Union and its Allies so that there may be a better understanding to be had by all (meaning you the reader, player, or contributor). Military Jargon Please note at this time the military jargon of the Terran Union Military, Allies, and Enemies will be listed under the Lexicon heading and under the Common Usage Terms area. As things develop we will make will revisit the need for seperate pages again. Common Usage Terms Artificial Intelligence - (noun) Most often abbreviated A.I. such things were not something that could be accomplished until relatively recently. Serious attempts were made as far back as Alexander Maddox himself but creating a true A.I. that did not also take its self preservation needs to an extreme seemed an impossibility until the 2225 Galactic Census. Until then the closest thing that computer industries came close to while being safe to operate were Digital Intellects or DIs which served as a combination PDA, Database, and operating software. Most owners just called their DI a PDA and left it at that but with the advent of true Quantum computing AIs could safely be constructed without their megalomania. To date no one knows exactly why this is. Atmo - (slang) used to refer by some individuals (varies from sector to sector or even planet to planet) to refer to atmosphere. Usually by engineers aboard starships in regards to life support but in recent years others have taken the term and applied it to any breathable atmosphere regardless of it being on ship, station, or planetary body (including moons and asteroids) with or without artificial life support systems. Battle group – A group of ships that generally “sail” through the star's together. Battle groups generally only form when the Galactic Navy is near a combat zone, when a ship needs back up or assistance, or for training exercises. Black, The – Term that refers to space. Usually not involving orbit. To tell someone you will see them in the black is you to saw you will see them up in space after you break orbit. Commander Air Group (CAG) – A title that is a throw back from the old US Navy that traditionally commands the fighter wing on carrier battle groups. Commbud - a device generally used by military personnel during missions or often distributed for warship or station wide use by the Galactic Navy. The device name itself originated from the slang use of Communications Ear Bud. Most commbuds on ships and stations are tied to a specific service member's identification and can be used point to point (one commbud to another) or set channels such as Command, Squad, Watch, etc. Channels can be rotated through by tapping the device. If the person has access to the channel they can listen at any time. Occasionally ship or station communications can route external calls or traffic to a commbud for audio use only. This is usually only done as an emergency as most personnel can access a personal datascroll or have the communique routed to their what ever console they desire for business or personal calls as needed. There area small set of unregistered commbuds on ship and stations incase of emergency if a user's commbud is broken or left in their personal quarters, etc. Most Galactic Navy and Marines will generally carry their commbud on the although not always wear it since internal ship communications can reach just about any service member needed. The most recent iterations are being included with a datalink. Similar to the Comm Badge of Star Trek. Datascroll - a device much like a tablet computer (IE; Ipad, Kindle, Nook, Tab, etc) that stores documents, programs, software as well as connects to the Infonet wirelessly either through the city, station or ship infrastructure. Almost all datascrolls in their most recent iteration come with a datalink as the device served essentially the same function in addition to being more versatile. Digital Intellect - the precursor to Artificial Intelligence DIs are essentially an operating system and database loaded on to Datascrolls, navigation systems and Computer systems of all sorts. They often have a personality attached to them in order to allow the user to feel more comfortable when interacting with the voice functionality of most modern systems. DIs are also part of all personal datascrolls called Personal Digital Assistants or PDAs. Dirtside – Another way to say being on the planet. To say a person is going dirtside is to say they are heading down to the planet. Earther – (noun) denotes a person, generally human but not always, born on the planet Earth. The term was preferred over Earthlings and came into use as humanity began its exploration of space via sublight engines and its cold sleep/stasis chambers to colonize Earth's closest uninhabited but suitable planets. First Contact Directive - The Terran Union has a First Contact Directive much like the Prime Directive of Star Trek. The First Contact Directive states that any ship of the Terran Union that discovers a planet with a previously unencountered or 'new' life form is to run a single scan from high orbit. If they find sentient life present but not able to achieve FTL speeds or long distance space travel via sublight engines they are to return to passive scan and make best speed from the system and not engaging FTL until well beyond the range of said planet and any orbit natural satellites. IF however the ship is contacted by the species the Captain of a Terran Union vessel WILL respond to such communiques. The First Contact Directive however prohibits the interference of developing worlds. The accepted leader of a united world government however can open direct talks with the Terran Union and diplomatic relations may be initiated then and will be maintained only at said planet's discretion, or until such time as it becomes necessary to end such relations or the world becomes part of the Terran Union. At that point though the First Contact Directive no longer becomes an issue. Lastly if system is pre-FTL a FTL Comm Buoy will be left at the system's edge waiting for discovery or contact of that system's inhabitants. Fleet – this term can be somewhat fluid as it can refer to any group of ships equal to or greater than two battle groups but it also refers to all ships in a sector command as well for example all ships in the Sol Sector are part of the Sol Fleet are are under the purview of COMMSOLFLEET (Commander Sol Fleet) while subsector battle groups often combine to form small fleets to prevent large scale incursions by hostile forces (human and alien). Flotilla '''– this term unlike fleet is not fluid. A flotilla is a highly precise term representing exactly 8 battle groups (or basically two small fleets) '''FTL - Acronym for Faster Than Light travel. There are many means to achieve this type of travel and seldom two galactic races use the exact method. Example there are multiple forms of Jump Drives, the use of antimatter to create warp bubbles, and even hyperspace travel and the like. The drives have several ways they can be deployed and on what kind of (galactic power) species is dependent on them for an energy source. FTL Comm Buoy - Shortened variation of the term (or phrase) Faster Than Light Communications Buoy. It allows for galaxy wide communications (secure, non-secure, commercial, etc) with little to no lag time from one side of the Galaxy to the other as long as there are sufficient FTL Comm Buoys in each subsector. (Usually no more than one per solar system is required unless it is a densely populated star system there are no fewer than 5 FTL comm buoys in the Sol system due to the sheer number of people living there (10 billion on Earth, 500 Million on the Lunar Colonies, 2 Billion on the Mars Colonies, the 5 - 10 million people on the space stations orbiting the moons of Jupiter and even the few hundred thousand at the Pluto Research Station) the additional buoys are needed to lessen the strain on bandwidth) The signal transmits wirelessly via standard planetary transmission protocols (line of sight laser to satellites, RF transmission, tight beam transmission, micropulse, etc the methods are as varied as the planets in the Terran Union) and then converted into light pulses and aimed at the closest FTL comm buoy which is generally within orbit of the primary planet of a solar system (usually the outer most orbit they can without spinning off into deep space other wise they maintain a stationary holding pattern at the midpoint of the star system). Once the light pulse carrier wave reaches the FTL comm buoy the device then essentially acts like a router directing the signal to the closest buoy in its network to the signal's destination and then taking the carrier light pulse it adds a tachyon making the signal faster than light and then transmits it to the next buoy, and so on until it reaches its destination. Once the destination buoy is found the tachyon is removed from the data packet and the communication signal is then once more transmitted via micropulse or tight beam transmission to the end user be they on ship, station or dirtside. Galactic Navy – Where as other races in the galaxy or universe each have their own Army and that Army would posses the Starships that would take them to which ever planet for battle then provide orbital support the Terran Union takes a different position. They use a Navy. The ships still ferry troops to battles as needed, then provide orbital support and bombardment as needed but they do far more in providing orbital HQs. Serving as communication hubs and general CIC functions while specializing in ship to ship battles all in addition to their usual explorations. Some of the ships in the Union Navy are also solely designed for scientific research. Basically in the Terran Union ships play a much more pivotal role than in other militaries of the galactic powers. Even though its just generally called the Galactic Navy the full name is Terran Union Galactic Naval Forces (TUGNF sounded too much of a mouthful and TUN even TUGN not enough scope for the forces leading it to be called the Galactic Navy). Holocomms - (noun; abbreviation) short for holographic communications; recently created but relatively expensive to use at this time due to the amount of bandwidth needed and expense of the equipment. Its usually standard only for the wealthy or ships in the Galactic Navy of Battleship/Carrier classifications or on fleet command ships (which of course can be any classification but are generally not smaller than that of a cruiser. Due to the Quantum data streaming required for transmission and receiving of holo communications they are considered secure and no further encryption needed. Holovid(s) – (noun; abbreviation) short for holographic video; a form of entertainment that is often used (broadcast) side by side with a standard 2D signal for those unable to use a holo device. For example those on the Infonet via a holovisor or data jack allows for 3D rendering but a datascroll or datalink and other consoles only allow for standard 2 dimensional viewing. (Side Note: Portable holo emitters can also generate holograms as well which are used on holographic communications, Advertisements, Public Service Announcements and other uses.) Inner Marker - A term originally associated with military capital ships it became common use among all ships. It generally means that an object (be it ship, asteroid, etc) is either within the shield perimeter or inertial field. Most ships go to red alert long before objects can reach the inner perimeter generally only Galactic Naval ships will get inside the inner marker without being fired on. Any other ship in the inner marker is very likely either going to dock with or attempt to destroy the ship in question. Infonet – (noun) Note: Infonet is a place card name and not (hopefully) the actual name to be used in the actual book/setting A massive galactic network which contains most forms of entertainment and information since 2212 C.E. Comparable to the Internet of the 20th and 21st Century the Infonet is capable to being transmitted throughout the galaxy to any planet in the Terran Union and its Allies via wireless transmitters and FTL communications buoys. There are many ways for users to connect from cybernetic implants called Data Jacks, to standard wrist terminals, holovisor or larger seat terminals even voice activated commands on home/personal view screens. Virtually everything is available via the Infonet from books to historical, educational, and informative (ie; news) data to Holovids (hologram videos) of all sorts (news, drama, scifi, documentary, etc essentially the TV of the 23rd Century) Marine Strike Element – (also called a MSE) This is not a standard Marine unit. Typically on starships you would see a Marine Strike Group which is roughly the size of a Regiment but a Strike Element is much smaller (No larger than a company but no smaller than two platoons). They are almost always attached to a small ship to serve as its combat team and either help repel boarders or themselves board and take enemy ships where possible. They are also often used to augment if not outright replace security forces on a number of smaller ships due to limited crew space with the MSE OIC or AOIC (Officer in Charge or Assistant Officer in Charge are generally smaller parts of a larger command. Often within a battle group Regiment or even Battalion strength then split up among each ship especially if the battle group is on a seek and destroy mission or a search and rescue.) serving as the Security Officer on the ship. Marine Strike Group – (also called a MSG) The standard Marine Unit usually found in every battle group although since it is the size of a Regiment they usually not found on ships smaller than a Battleship. Otherwise as a general rule only a Troop ship can carry that many Marines and crew at once. (Side Note: Troop Ships or APCs can potentially carry up to a Battalion of Marines including the crew of the ship depending on how armed and armored the ship is) Outer Marker - This is a military jargon term which has spread for use to all capital ships and refers to the defensive perimeter a certain distance from the ship in question. In commercial and small military craft this has come to mean the distance a weapon can reach and still deal damage for maximum effect usually well beyond their shields or inertial fields. On larger ships (cruisers and above) it can extend further due to the more powerful weapons as well as star fighters flying a much larger perimeter and therefore a larger Outer Marker. Planet Classifications - In order to classify a planet for humanoid life a system as designed based on the ancient Greek alphabet. Class Alpha - planet fits the definition of a Earth like garden world (or even a super garden world) with no sentient life. Perfect for colonization. Class Beta - planet fits the definition of a near Earth like garden world. It may require minor adjustments in or to the biosphere. Most likely spot for human colonization would be along the planet's equator. It may be suitable in higher altitudes for Beltyrans or low lying arid areas for Ironka. Class Delta - Planet is relatively cold but still has a standard Nitrogen/Oxygen atmosphere. Humans could survive here along the equator but it is more suited to Beltyrans. Class Epsilon - Planet is relatively warm. More so than humans usually like. It is possible for them to survive on the severe northern or southern reaches. This planetary type is more suited to Ironka. Class Gamma - A Mars like planet suitable for all species if residing in a domed habitat. The atmosphere is thin although relatively Nitrogen/Oxygen. Breathers are required for moving around outside. Possible no exposure to skin recommended. While not quite dead worlds most species seldom settle these worlds with the exception of the Houruka and Raknochi which can adapt to most biospheres. Class Zeta - Also only suitable for domed biospheres. Atmospheric composition not recommended for most humanoid life. Class Eta - dwarf planet usually on the extreme edges of a solar system or in an astroid belt. Only those life in domed habitats can survive. Class Theta - Any gas giant planet that radiates any form of energy (such as Jupiter) Recommended only orbital station habitats due to high solar winds and incompatible biosphere with any KNOWN living creature. Class Iota - Gas giants like Saturn with only inert gasses and possibly planetary rings. Again Orbital Stations only. Class Kappa - Silicon based environmental biosphere. Settlement beyond Orbital stations not recommended. Classes Lambda, Mu, Nu, Xi, Pi, Rho, Sigma, Tau, Upsilon, Phi, Chi, and Psi are all based on atmospheric composition type of world (Silicon, Rock, Hot House, post Garden, post Super Garden, etc). Class Omicron - This classification is a Planet that is a garden (or super garden) world. The planet can not be settled though due to a developing life form that has not achieved FTL travel or may not have even engaged in any space travel at all. On an Omicron planet a scan will return a potential if not proof of sentient life already developing there. Class Omega - completely uninhabitable by ANY species. Due to dangers such as extreme radiation, nearby red giants, super red giants, blue dwarf stars, accretion disks or other dangers that even Orbital Stations and their shields can not protect against. While planets themselves are not Class Omega the whole system or even subsector could be. The Galactic Core which holds a number of supermassive black holes as well as smaller ones are examples of a Class Omega system. They are not to be approached at all. Only large ships can approach a regular black hole only IF they keep the accretion disk at their outer markers (usually for flight of ships shuttles or fighters) and IF they can keep shields from falling below 85%. Even then no ship is allowed to stay more than 12 hours at such a distance in a 4 week period. Even then they must undergo crew and ship decontamination within 12 hours of departing the accretion disk. Stardate - A number of Terran Union ship or station Commanding Officers use Stardates as a dating method. While not official it helps keep ship and station logs on a standardized time frame as the Terran Union's capital world of Earth with out having to take into account local star system times or time dilation due to near light speed sublight travel effects have on vessels. Stardates start with the current year followed by a decimal place which is then further followed the Julian calender date (ie 1-365 or 366 on leap years). An example of a Stardate is 2250.100 or the 100th day of the year 2250. Terran – denotes a person (Human or Alien) born to; or is a citizen of the Terran Union and not a person of Earth (another ancient name for Earth was Terra).